Apparatus for treating fumes



' Se L 25, 1928. w ,6s5`,229

M. DORFAN APPARATUS FOR TREATING FUMES Filed Nov. 21, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mss ' Sept. 25, 1928,

. 1,685,229 M.' DORFAN I' APPARATUS FOR TREATING-*FUME V Filed Nov'. 2, 1923 2 shans-sheet 2 Patentecl Sept. 25, 1928.

` emm sTArEs- MORTON I. 'DORFAIL OF NEW-YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AL LIS-CI-IALM ERS MAN UAC- T RING COMPANY, or MILWAUKEE, W sconsin,

APPARATUSFOR TREATING Fl'J'MES. I'

e pncan filedNoveniber 21, 1923. Serial No.`676,018.

.This invention re'lates in generalto improvemente in the art ottreating gases, and

relates more specifically to an improved proc-` ess of and apparatus for collecting and sub sequently treatingthe gases or' fumes generated at several sources'srjch as a plurality f'retort furnaces, in order-to recover from the fumes one or more of the constituents.

A general object of the invention is to pro U vide an improved process of collecting and of separating the constituents. of gasesj or fumes derved from a plurality of sources Another general object of the invention is to provide simple and e'hcent* apparatus or effectmg commercial' exploitation of the im'- proved process. i

I In the treatmentiof Z111C and other oresfor the recovery of metals, t lS common practice to utilze a plurality of similar retorts located in close proximity to each other, Wherein the` ore is confined while being heated. During operation of thesesretort furnaces, and wh le the ore s being converted; combustble gases are being deliveredfrom the condensers' assoi ciated with each o'the retorts. The coni bustible gasesthus dscharged are ignlted in the presence 'of air producing a fiame thef I A the course o the accompanyng description.

character of which indicates the condition' of the ore within the retort. The fumes pro du'ced by combustion of'the 'gases contain a considerable quantity of metal particles which are 'carried in meehanieal suspension and also contain other solids. i These solid laden fumes 7. are ordinarily delivered from the smelterand eventually deposited upon the land ad:`

joining the smelter plant, such 'depostof the solid particles being extremely objectionable due to the fact that they are destructive to .vegetation. As the combustion of the gases 0 escaping from the retorts and' normal access to the retorts and condensers must not be interfered with, andalso because of the fact that' 'p separation 'of the solids from the gases in the presence of an abundance ofexcess air is rela tively costly, it hasf-heretotore been commer-.

ciall'y impracticable to remove the solids from the fumes. i

The present invention contemplates provision 'of an 'improved process of removing the solide from thefumes delivered froni a ,plu-

rality of retort furnaces, and of efi'ectively recovering the-valuable constituents 'at relatively low commercial cost. Withthe'aid ot' the present improved process and apparaering with the. normal` operation of the apparatus which produces the substancesub jectecl to treatment. With .the improved ap'- paratus, manipulation of retortfturnaces .is

greatly facilitated by virtue of the fact that 'the products ofcombustjon are immediately 4 dscharged from the turnace room thereby `A CORPORATION oF DELAWARE; i

avoiding excessive radiation ofheat tth working space in front of theretorts. The improved apparatus is ent irely automatic ini operation and comprises generallythe provi` sion of means tor collecting the fumesgen erated at each'of a plurality of soureesin the presence'oi" a limited quantity of exeess air,'

'i'ieans tor subsequently cooling the mixture;

o' airandfumes while conducting this mix:`

ture fron'r the place of origin, and means for subsequently separatlng the constituents of the turmes.: *With the aid ot' the improved ap paratus the Volume of the mxture of fumes and air is reduced to ,a minimum thei'eby enablingthe use o' a Separator' having rela-' tiveiy small Capacity and mnm izrng the commercial cost of j septration. The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages;

of the present invention will be apparent in A clear conception of the several steps of the improved process and ;of the detals of 'construction and operation of .oneji orm ot apparatus embodying the present inventionactors designate thesame or similar parte in' through a n'iultiple retortsmelting furnace,

` showing a fumecollecting; hood" associated with eacho'l: the retort chscharge open ings, and also showing conduct-i1igand cool-` ing means i or conveyingthe accumulated fumes to a dust collector.

Fig 2 is a -fragmentary horizontal 'viewfl i through a multiple retort smelting' furnace,

showing a plan viewof several 'ume collecting hoods andlthe trime conduct socated tlrerewith. p a V Fig. Elis an enlarged :fragmentary Vertical' ing'means `as',-

section through several retort furnaces and improved apparatus for collecting the fuines' generated thereby.

Fig. 4 san enlarged fragmentary horizon in as specifically applied H) sources, the separation.

i losely adj acent a condenser 4 having a gas discharge orifices 5 of each pair of later-` 'tal section through several mort 'and improved apparatust'or collecting the intended to car 7 is transportable.

v otherwise manipulating comprising'a stationary top urnaces fumes generated thereby. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of oneof the finne collecting con duits or ducts, showing'details t-ion of the improved apparatus.

While the invention will be described hereto the art of smelting zine in retort smelting turnaces, it is not limitthe scope disclosure.

by such specific It will be obvious that the principles of the invention are' more generally apparatus' for collecting and subsequently` fumes derived from various' a pplicable to a treating gases or of consttuents not necessarilybeng limited to a separaton of the solids from the ga'ses.

plurality 'of cylindrical The retort furnace compriscs in general a to each other. and having their external surfaces exposcd to a heating zone 3 wherein intense heat is maintained in any'convenient manner.- 'The lower extrem-` ity of each of the retort-s 2 is provided wth discharge orifice 5 through which combustible gases are nor mally delivered from the interier of the' reborts 2. Thedischarge orifices 5 are accessible `from the furnace manipulating room wherein is locateda railway 6 upon which a The car 7 carries a ladle 8 and other apparatusfor charging and the retorts 2.

a A 'ume collecting hood islocated above the ally adjacent retort condensers 4, each hood 'plate 9, a pivoted rear' plate 10, and a pivoted front plate 11. The rear and front Ported from' front an rear edges of thetop 'plate 9 by means of hinges 13 and are capable of being swunginto various positions of adjustment and of being retained in such posibrackets 21 which are rigidly attached to the furn'ace structure 12, and are located directly above the flames produced by ignition from the orifices 5, see 3`and 4. The rear plate 10'of each Figs portions '19 hood is providedwith cut out which are adapted 'to partially embrace the adjacent condensers 10 is lowered. The I to retain the rear apparatus of each hood is provided' With cut out 'por- 4 when the rear plate rear bolts 20 are adapted lates 10 in upper position under certain con itions of operation of the see Fig. 3. The front plate 11 tions 18 which permit free'inspection of the condensers`4 and provide sight openings for viewing the condition of the flames at the discharge orfices 5 of the condensers 4 When the front plate 11 iislowered. The upper of construc of the invention process of and retorts :2 located 'plates 10,'11 are sup-.

;contained in the plate 11 in its uppermost position under certain 'conditions of operation ofthe ap paratus; the intermediate front bolts 22 a-re adapted to retain the front plate 11 in an intermediate position of adjustment under other conditions of operation while the :lower frontbolts23 are adapted to retain the front plates 11 in normal lo'wered position. Thehood pl ates 9,10, 11 may beformed of special heat resisting material and 'form a pocket through the lower ext-r emity ot' which only sufcient air s admissible to support proper conbustion of the gases delivered from the orifices 5. i v i Each of the 'ume collecting hoods .communicates through anorifice with a fume duct 14 which is common to a plurality of the hoods. The orifices which provide *means ot' communication between the hoods and the ume ducts 14, are preterably' controllablc by means of danpers 15 adjustable with the aid of handles 17, in *order tocontrol the Volume of the mixture of fumes and air pro duced within each of the hoods. The funieducts 14 communicate with 'piping 24 leading to a gas cooler 25 of any approved form.

`he gas cooler 25'commun1cat es with a` separ rator 26 which in the present instancepref erably consists of a fabric bag type dust collector, but which may be anynform of separator adapted. to separate the constituentsot the gas mixture delivered fro'm the cooler 25. The flow of the gases through-the ducts 14, piping 24, cooler 25 and Separator. 26. maybe produced by means of a. fan the suctonof which's connected to the discharge of `the Separator in a. Well known 'mannen v During normal operation of the retort furnace, the reto rts 2 are charged with ore', reducing agent and other substances from the car 7, after which-the ,discharge orices 5 are closed sufiiciently to maintain only a. relatively small discharge opening. The retorts are then subjected tobe-at from the heating zone 3 and combust'ble gases aredriven off through the' orific'es 5 'andcarelgnited 'The hoods which serve to collect the funies'resulting from such ignition and combustion of the gases are 'then arranged asillustrated in, the uppcr portion of Fig. 3 where-uponexcess air` is admitted from below 'to the interier of the hoods and mXes with the fumes, the miXture being delivered past the damper 15 to the :t'ume duet 14. The miXtures of fumes' and excess air entering the through the conductingpipes 24 to the'cooler 25 wherein the temperature of the mixture is substantiallyreduced. Fromthe cooler 25 the combined mixture of tumes and air passes through the Separator= 26 'wherein the gases mixture are Withdrawn through fabric bags while the solids are accumulated upon the surfaces of .the bags and are periodically removed. The solids thus 'fume duet 14 travel v g removed from the gases are either returned to the reto'rts 2 duringcharging of the -latter,

"or 'may be otherwise treated to 'reco ver valu- V able constituents thereof.

When it is desred to inspect the 'condens'er 4 of a retort 2 as when drawing ofi' some of lower portion of Fig. 3. `With the front plate 11 of the hood thus positioned, the discharge v orifices 5 of the condensers t delivering into the hood are freely accessible, and the hood remains effective to collect fumes discharged from the retorts 2. WVhen it is desired to recharge or to remove a retort 2 With its condenser 4:, both the rear -plate 10 and the front plate 11 may be ipositioned as illustrated at the intermediate portion of Fig. 3, the rear plate 10 being held in its upper position by means of thebolts 20, and the front 'plate 11 being retained in its upper position by the upper front bolts 16. Nitli the hood plates thus positioned, the retorts 2 associated therewith may be freely removed. It will thus be noted .that the adjustability of the hood plates 10, ll permits unob-structed manipulation 'of the retort furnace for all conditions 'of operation. i

The damper 15 and, the relatively small inlet opening for excess air communicatng with each hood, permit accurate control of the volume of the mixture of fumes and air thereby ,enabling the use of cooling and dust collecting apparatus of minimum Capacity. It may of course be desirable to provide a bottom plate for each hood if it is found that the quantity of excess air is greater than that desired or if the distribution of the air to the hoods is ineficient. Besides enabling control of the quantity of excess'air which is mixed with the fumes, it will be obvious that the front plates ll serve as shielding aprons which will protect the furnace attendants against radiation e of excessive heat from the flames. While the cut out portions 18 may be left open in most cases, it will be obvious that these cut'out'portions may be provided with transparent m'edum such as mica without departing from the spirit ofthe present invention.

It Will thus be noted that with the improved process of collecting and of treating the fumes, the solid constituents may be effectively recovered in a Separator of minimumsize and at minimum commercial cost, without-in any manner interfering with the normal operation of the retort furnace, Manipulation of the retortfurnace is greatly facilitated by the shielding'action of the hoods and the proportion of air mixed with the fumes may be conveniently varied. The apparatus is entirely automatic in its normal operation and may be installed in a great number of exstng furnaces of this general type. While each of the hoods'of the present'disclosure serves "to c'o'llect the fumes from tWo retorts, it will be obvious' that each hood may serve only one retort, or may even be nade to-serve any limited number'jof retorts greater than one f It shouldbe understood that it is not'desired to limit tle pres ent` invention to the exact steps of the process or to the exact details of Construction of the apparatus herein shown and described, 'for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

It's claimed and desired to secure by Leti ters Patent:. l

1. In combination with aplurality of retorts each having means for dischargngburning funies,` a hood disposed over each 'of said dischargemeans, each of said hoods comprising an adjustable wall located in front of said discharge ineans andbeing formed to provide a combustion zone at the adjacent retort *and having an opening for admitting fresh air directly tosaid zone, means for collecting gases of combustion 'from all of said' `hoods, and means for separatng the solids from the collected gases.

' 2, In combination With a plurality of torts each having means for discharging' burning fumes, a `hood disposed over each of said dischargemeans, each of said hoods comprisng a movable Wall located in front of said dscharge means and being formed to provide a oombustion zone at theadjacentretort and having an opening for adinitting fresh .air directly to said zone, means for conof said hoods, means for collecting the gases of combustion discharged from all of said oo' i trolling the quantity of air admitted to each i p able Walls disposed a-t each of said discharge means, each of said hoods providing a comformed to admit su'fficient fresh air directly to said zone to support complete conbustion of the fumes delivered from'the adjacentretort, means for'collecting the gases of combustion discharged from all of said hoods, means for coolingsad gases, and means' for i removing the solids from said gases.

4. In combination With a iplurality of relti torts each having means for discharging 1 l v bustion zone at eachof said retorts and being 5 r burning fumes, a'hood associated ith each of said fume dscharge means for collecting i able wallsfor permitting access to the a'djacent retort, and means for collecting gases of i combustion discharged from all of said hoods and for separating the solidstherefrom.

5, In combination'with a p-lurality of re- 10:;` ,3. In combination with a plurality of rea torts each having means for discharging `burning fumes, a hood comprsing removtorts each having means for dischargng mixmres of-gasand air accumulated' n each gasesm hood associated with each of said gas of said loods and for sepamtng the solds' discharge means for ,collecting gases in the from sadmixtures.

esenca of a limited quantity of air, each of In testimony whereof, the signature of the i said'hoods comprsing pivoted front and rezuinvento' is aflxed heneto. plates removable to permit free-access to .the i adjacent retort, and means for collecting the u MORTON-I. DORFAN. 

